At the bottom..... Review on Shikhar

Producer-Director: John Mathew Matthan[Sarfarosh fame]

Cast: Ajay Devgan, Bipasha Basu, Shahid Kapoor, Amrita Rao and Javed Sheikh (Pakistan)

Good idea gone awry. That's the apt way to describe Shikhar..It has all the ingredients for a perfect recipe of meaningful yet entertaining cinema – a director who has won critical acclaim in his debut film Sarfarosh, immensely talented actors Shahid and Ajay and and a theme that's straight out of life.Despite the impressive names involved, the film appeals only in patches. There are some brilliantly executed sequences, no doubt, but when viewed in totality, it does not succeed in creating an indelible impression.

PLOT

Jawed Sheikh is running an Ashram Krishivan in the middle of greens and believes in the conservation of environment..He gets retired from his job just to give all his effort into this field...The Asram is also running school ,green house and other environmental activities!

Jawed's world comes crashing down when his son Shahid Kapoor refuses to follow his footstep!Shahid plays an ambitious character who aspires to make it big some day.The sudden change in his mind set is due to influence of high lifestyle .

While trying to manage a foothold in the city of dreams, Sahid predictably comes across Ajay .Amrita Rao, his lady love, tries her best to pull him away from the superficial world but in vain!

Shahid's life undergoes a major change after Ajay takes him under his wing and Shahd believes in him completly.Ajay Devgan 's greed has no limit and despite his multi-millionaire status wants to earn more. More the money, more he wants to invest in his city. In this quest of his, he is ready to confront anyone who comes his way, whether its the mankind or the nature.

Ajay's right-hand woman is Bipasha Basu, his ally and a temptress.Both of them share a live-in-relationship! Shahid is trapped big time by Ajay and Bipasha .What's more Bipasha uses her charms to make Shahid do exactly what Ajay wants. Though even Bipasha is not happy about what she is doing and is in constant guilt, she herself is so much in love with Ajay that she can hardly say no. Ajay's dream project is to build an entire city on the outskirts of Mumbai and for that, he needs agricultural land that actually belongs to the natives.

Jawed sees his son going wayward but still has hopes that he would get back on the right path soon. Shahid starts enjoying life to the fullest with each moment of his revolving around luxury, lust and desires. He wants to reach the peak that only dreamers can dream but doesn't realize that he may reach the heights from where it could be one big fall at one single mistake.

Actual drama takes place when Ajay, along with a corrupt minister Manoj Joshi manages to oust the adivasis from the village. His only stumbling block is an ashram in the vicinity run by Javed Sheikh, who refuses to vacate and gets a stay order on the construction, thereby causing Ajay a huge loss!What happens next?

critical analysis

Director John Matthan made a superb debut with the hard hitting drama SARFAROSH. One expected another meaningful and thought provoking film from his next film but Matthan fails to live upto expectations. In terms of a story Matthn rehashed Hollywood classic ''Wall Street '' . Yes-the theme has been changed to Ashram to fit the indian setting but the basic premise and story is a replica.

The screenplay too is just average. The movie starts out superbly and the scene is set...but after that the it fails to really take off. The monotonus scenes lose impact after a while. The story fails to move ahead after interval which further tests the patience of viewer. Another factor that works against the film is its music. The songs act as speed-breakers since they are forced in the goings-on. In fact, the film would've had a better impact had it been a songless affair...

As a director it is obvious Matthan direction has been meddled with by John Matthan, the producer. What could have been a though provoking and engaging saga on enviromental protection ends up being neither here nor there saga!

Secondly ,the characterisation of Ajay looks far from convincing! One never really identifies with the character of Ajay as much as they'd wish to. Matthan also presents the story in a very one dimensional manner without really offering much insight.

Even the characterisation of Bipasha seems half-baked as well. The viewer is left baffled whether or not she is positive or a negative character .Another drawback is that the film is extremely verbal and whilst the dialogues are very well written they start to lose impact after a while.

Climax is another downer!It takes a typical Bollywood turn and although the movie does take a twist...its a case of too little too late and comes across as cliched. Even the comic track involving Sushant Singh is anything but funny!The Bangkok track looks out of sync..Hope you don't sell out next time Mr.Matthan!

There are scenes where Matthan is his mettle like the conversation between Shahid and Ajay and also the interactions between Shahid and Amrita..,the antics of Bipasha to woo Shahid .!But they are far and few.....

Performances

Shahid Kapoor is no doubt a very talented actor. The college boy image that stuck with him in Ishq Vishk is still there in Shikhar but he manages to give extra dimension to it. His major plus point lies in the fact that he is not afraid to experiment with roles be it in his unconventional role in FIDA, as a confused guy in DMM, as a loverboy in Dewaane Huye Paagal and now in Shikhar he plays arrogant character to the perfection as well. This is no doubt his best performance to date and Shahid makes the most out of his well written character. He is consistent throughout and is fantastic in the climax! .No doubt he is here to stay! Ajay Devgan is surprisingly a disappointment....Also his look betrays him all the while!

Bipasha fits her character to a T performs with confidence. Although her character disappears in the film for most of the second half her character manages to leave an impact on the viewer till the very end.Amrita Rao excels. Her sequences in the Asram (initial portions) and later, when she comes face-to-face with Shahid in the hospital, proves that she's competent enough.Also the chemistry between Shahid and Amrita is sizzling as always!

Jawed Seikh comes up with a powerful performance. His performance as a caring father engages the viewer to a major extent.Sushan Singh irritates..Farah is passable...

conclusion

All up Sikhar is a disappointment. The film has a good theme to offer which hasn't been treated with the right amount of maturity ...a real missed opportunity. Despite certain scenes being well canned the overall product suffers.